Exclusive MMA Interviews News

Cole Shelton - December 3, 2018

When MMA fans think of the top gyms in the sport, they think of American Top Team, JacksonWink MMA, Team Alpha Male, The MMA Lab, and many others. And rightfully so. However, not many fans seem to think of Fortis MMA. Some fans might not have even have heard of the gym. But that could soon change. Fortis MMA and its head coach Sayif Saud are no longer flying under the radar. That is because over the past year all the gym’s fighters have done is win and collect championships. Fortis MMA is based out of Dallas Texas, and has only been around for about two years. In that two years though, Saud built the program up. He initially had no fighters in the UFC or any top promotion for that matter under his roof. Instead, he took on fighters who were either amateurs or only had one or two professional fights.

Thomas Taylor - December 2, 2018

Today, Stergos Mikkios proudly calls himself a member of the ONE Championship roster. Yet if things had unfolded just a little bit differently for the Greek Muay Thai specialist, he might not have made it to the bright lights of the Singapore-based promotion. In fact, he might not be alive at all.

Mike Pendleton - November 30, 2018

UFC lightweight Jared Gordon is preparing to return from a 10-month layoff and is doing so with a new team behind him. Gordon took his first loss in the UFC when he came up short to Carlos Diego Ferreira at UFC Fight Night 126 back in February. Following the loss, Gordon decided to pack up from his New York home and move to Roufusport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Roufusport is home to plenty of UFC stars, including Anthony and Sergio Pettis, Paul Felder, John Makdessi and Belal Muhammad just to name a few.

Tom Taylor - November 30, 2018

It’s a strange and worrying time for the UFC flyweight division. The former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson has been traded to ONE Championship in exchange for welterweight talent Ben Askren. A procession of long-time UFC flyweights have been released from their contracts, including Justin Scoggins, Jared Brooks, Roberto Sanchez, and most recently, Ulka Sasaki. Rumors that the promotion plans to close the division have been rampant, and when pressed about these rumors, UFC President Dana White hasn’t exactly provided cause for optimism… “The flyweight division just never took off, it never caught on,” White said on a recent episode of the UFC Unfiltered podcast. “Even with a dominant champion like Demetrious, it just never caught on. People didn’t care. I battled for a long time, I tried to keep it alive and obviously, it’s still going on now. We still have fights going on in that division, but we’ll see what the future holds for it.”

Christopher Taylor - November 29, 2018

The mixed martial arts community is still grieving after losing legendary Japanese fighter Kid Yamamoto to cancer this past September. Norifumi had announced that he was battling the disease back on August 26 via his official Instagram.

Cole Shelton - November 29, 2018

Luis Pena was an undefeated lightweight up until his last fight, when he came up short against TUF 27 winner Mike Trizano. Then, after the fight, the man they call ‘Violent Bob Ross’ announced that he would be moving down to the featherweight division. This news came as a bit of a shock to some, given that Pena is 6’3″. Pena himself, however, feels it’s the right move.

Tom Taylor - November 29, 2018

Back in July, undefeated Australian light heavyweight prospect Jim Crute earned himself a UFC contract with a first-round destruction of Chris Birchler on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. This Sunday in Adelaide, Australia (Saturday in North America), he’ll make his long-awaited UFC debut against Scotland’s Paul Craig. The last time Paul Craig was in action, he dazzled the MMA community with an epic comeback win, dodging near-certain defeat by submitting Magomed Ankalaev with a single second remaining in their fight. Jim Crute saw this fight, and he was as impressed as the rest of us. That being said, he assures Paul Craig will have no such victory at UFC Adelaide.

Tom Taylor - November 29, 2018

Juan Archuleta has long stood out as one of the most exciting prospects in the Bellator featherweight division. In his Friday night Bellator 210 fight with Jeremy Spoon, he’ll look to take another big step toward divisional champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire. To say Archuleta is excited for this looming test would be an understatement.

Cole Shelton - November 28, 2018

Aaron Pico (4-1 MMA) is a future superstar. The 22-year-old is currently riding a four-fight win streak, with all four of those victories coming by way of first-round knockout. However, for Pico, arguably the best attribute of his game is his wrestling and so far he hasn’t had to use it.

Cole Shelton - November 28, 2018

At UFC 229, Conor McGregor made his long-awaited return to the Octagon. He took on Khabib Nurmagomedov for the lightweight title. Ahead of the fight, not many people knew how it would turn out. Some people believed McGregor would be able to catch Nurmagomedov and knock him out. Others thought Nurmagomedov would just take McGregor down and ground and pound him or submit him, which ultimately is what happened.

Cole Shelton - November 27, 2018

Fernie Garcia recently was apart of history. The 26-year-old fought on the first ever Golden Boy MMA fight card in which he fought on the undercard. Ultimately, Garcia impressed enough that when Golden Boy does their next MMA event, Garcia will be fighting on it. However, before his fight with Golden Boy MMA, Garcia was 4-0 as a professional and was looking to fight in a bigger promotion. That is when Golden Boy reached out and it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. As a prospect, fighting in front of thousands of fans, and fighting on a big card like this was important to Garcia.

Cole Shelton - November 27, 2018

Last Saturday night, Oscar De La Hoya promoted his first-ever MMA event under the Golden Boy MMA banner. In the weeks leading up to this MMA card, which was headlined by a trilogy fight between UFC Hall of Famers Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell, there was plenty of reason to believe it was a one-off for De La Hoya. Yet according to Fernie Garcia, who fought on the undercard of the event, this is not the case. “I have heard that they are [going to do more MMA],” Garcia told BJPENN.com of Golden Boy MMA. “I have heard that the plan was for two events. So they are going to have two events. From what I know, they are going to have another event for sure.”

Cole Shelton - November 26, 2018

Alex Volkanovski is a streaking featherweight who is currently riding a lofty 15-fight winning streak. Even with that, the Australian is only ranked 10th in the featherweight division. However, that can all change on Dec. 29 at UFC 232, where Volkanovski will have his toughest test to date when he takes on Chad Mendes. Mendes is a two-time title challenger and is currently ranked fifth in the division. Put all of that together and it is a huge fight for Volkanovski.

Drake Riggs - November 26, 2018

There are many variables that can and will affect the way that one’s life plays out. And the same goes for when referencing a career in sports, especially one that happens to be in combat sports.

Tom Taylor - November 26, 2018

The year 2018 has not been particularly kind to Hawaii’s Yancy Medeiros. After coming up short to Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in February, the fan favorite sought to get back on track opposite “Platinum” Mike Perry at UFC 226 in July. Regrettably, this plan was derailed when he sustained a rib injury, and he has not fought since.

Tom Taylor - November 25, 2018

Demetrious Johnson no longer calls the UFC’s Octagon home. After a legendary, 18-fight stint with the Las Vegas promotion, the long-time UFC flyweight champion was traded to Singapore-based martial arts promotion ONE Championship in exchange for top welterweight talent Ben Askren. Several weeks after this unprecedented swap was made official, Demetrious Johnson boarded a plane to Singapore to meet the ONE Championship team and take in the stacked ONE: Heart of the Lion card.

Mike Straus - November 23, 2018

Chris Honeycutt has quietly positioned himself as one of Bellator MMA’s top middleweight contenders. He fights at next weekend’s Bellator 210 event but has his thoughts set on a rematch. Honeycutt has long been one of the promotions most talented middleweights. But a recent change in training camps could see Honeycutt’s game go to the next in his upcoming fight.

Cole Shelton - November 23, 2018

Colby Covington is the UFC’s interim welterweight champion. At present he’s hoping to fight current undisputed champion Tyron Woodley in early 2019 to unify the belts. Once he’s done that, we could see him in a different line of work, as he’s hoping to transition to the WWE ring in the future.